Evangelicals and Evolution: Thomas Jay Oord

From Thomas Jay Oord’s blog…

What do you think of his five major points? Would you add others, subtract some of these? Which books do you think are most important for those who want to think about this more intelligently?

Evangelicals Accept Evolution

I chose my blog title to acknowledge that a growing number of Evangelicals accept evolution as compatible with Christianity. I also chose my title to argue that Evangelicals should accept evolution as compatible with faith.

I spent a good portion of last week at a BioLogos meeting. I talked with leading Evangelical pastors, scientists, philosophers, and theologians. Our main goal was to help the Evangelical family realize that the general theory of evolution is not a threat to authentic Christian faith and not a threat to biblical authority.

A full explanation of the compatibility of biblical Christianity and evolution would require at least a book. Here I want to point quickly to five reasons why some of my fellow Evangelicals accept evolution as compatible with Christianity. These are the same reasons I think other Evangelicals should follow their example.

The Evidence Points to Evolution

The first point may be obvious, but it bears repeating. The evidence from a variety of sciences – but especially biology – points to evolution. Various dating mechanisms, the similarities of bone structures across species, fossil continuity, genetic sequencing, and more point to evolution as the general theory that best accounts for the emergence of life over a long period of time and the common descent of species.

The overwhelming majority of the scientific community – those people who study the data most carefully – affirms the general theory of evolution. There are certainly differences of opinions on the mechanisms and means for evolution amongst scientists. But the vast majority affirms the general theory.

We Evangelicals are adamant that we seek truth. Simply put, the general theory of evolution best accounts for the biological evidence we find in our world. Not accepting evolution means not accepting the best overall theory available to account for the data we find.

God Creates Through and Alongside Evolutionary Mechanisms

Some Evangelicals reject evolution, because they think it allows no place for God to be Creator. Unfortunately, they seem to be listening to a small but loud contingency of atheistic philosophers and scientists who claim evolution has no place for God. They want to force Evangelicals to choose between science and faith.

But Evangelicals can and should believe that God works through various evolutionary mechanisms as the initial and ongoing Creator of all things. There is no scientific reason to reject that God creates through evolution. I believe God works through or alongside natural selection, genetic mutation, self-organization, and other evolutionary mechanisms.

Unfortunately, many young Evangelicals feel like the church forces them to choose between their faith and the best that science has to offer. The stories of those rejecting faith in the face of evolutionary evidence saddens me. It’s time for the church to help those wrestling with these issues to see they can believe both in God as Creator and evolution.

The Bible is Consonant with Evolution

The Bible doesn’t talk about evolution. In fact, Genesis and other books assume a worldview that has little in common with contemporary science. Biblical authors typically assume an ancient view of the world, in which the earth is flat and a dome covers the earth. It makes little sense to try to read evolution or other contemporary scientific theories into the Bible when they simply aren’t there.

The key to seeing the Bible as consonant with evolution, therefore, is to ask about the purpose of Scripture. Evangelicals regard the Bible as reliable for revealing God’s will concerning salvation. They should do not consider the Bible a scientific textbook against which contemporary science – including evolution – be judged.

An old saying in Christian circles seems helpful on this issue: “The Bible tells us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go.”  My own more evolution-oriented saying is that the Bible tells us how to find abundant life, not the scientific details of how life became abundant. In short, Evangelicals should look to the Bible for theological truth.

New Creation, Transformation, and Evolution

The idea that creatures can undergo dramatic change is part of the Christian gospel. In fact, the Apostle Paul emphasized the importance of at least humans being God’s new creations.

I doubt the Apostle Paul affirmed evolution, of course. But the notion that something different can emerge from the created order fits the general evolutionary claim about the emergence of creation over time. We might even say the spiritual sense of new creation mirrors the physical sense of evolutionary creation.

It should make sense to Evangelicals that God is in the business of doing new things. The Bible tells us that God cares about establishing the kingdom, and God works to redeem all creation. God is doing and creating new things today! Hallelujah!

Free Creatures are Created Co-Creators

In the first verses of Genesis, we find God asking creatures to join in the work of creating. God tells them to “bring forth” others. In fact, we might call creatures “created co-creators.” This label does not mean that creatures are equal with their Creator.  But it does mean that creatures make a real difference in shaping God’s creative and providential activity.

Many Evangelicals also believe that God lovingly gives freedom and agency to those God creates.  This emphasis on creaturely freedom and agency fits well in evolutionary theories that are not deterministic.

This belief is part of why Evangelicals who affirm evolution also reject the view that evolution occurs entirely through absolute randomness. Both God and creatures have roles to play in the emergence of life as we know it. Evolution tells us a great deal about some of the creaturely roles in that evolutionary creation process.

In sum, Evangelicals should affirm the evidence for common descent and an ancient universe. They can do so while still affirming God’s creative and designing activity. And they can affirm that creatures in particular and creation in general possess agency, freedom, and purpose.

Evangelicals accept evolution.

Evangelicals: accept evolution!